Nice doggie
by Kootenay
Summary: The young Dukes have a scary encounter with a rabid dog


**Nice doggie**

A/N: Keep in mind this is my first fanfic, reviews are welcome good or bad though.

I'm not sure if they ever mentioned the exact ages of the Dukes but for the purposes of this story I'll say Luke is 7, Daisy is 5 and Bo is 3.

Disclaimer: I own more crap than I know what to do with, but I unfortunately don't own the Dukes (well, except for the DVD's)

It was a lazy summer day and the sun was blazing hot high in the sky over Hazzard County as the Duke children were playing just within sight of their old farmhouse. Luke was concentrating hard on tossing a baseball to himself, Daisy was playing in the dirt with her dolls while Bo was caught up in his own world, imagining he was racing cars, fighting dragons and scaring off cattle rustlers. Bo was always on the move looking for exciting new things to investigate though to satisfy his curious mind so he was the first to notice the old bluetick coonhound that wandered out from the woods. Bo loved dogs, he had begging his Uncle for a puppy for months now, but his Uncle had told him there were already enough young mouths to feed on the farm. If he found one though maybe he could convince his Uncle to keep it. As the baby of the family he knew he could be pretty persuasive.

"Come here doggie" Bo said hopefully holding out his hand.

The dog just gazed at the little boy with menacing eyes and flashed his big teeth. Bo suddenly felt frightened. He managed to find his voice just enough to choke out Luke's name.

Luke quickly looked over and the baseball thudded to the ground as he quickly took in the site of the sick looking dog with the foaming mouth and trembling muscles.

"Rabies" he whispered under his breath. "Bo, I need you to stay calm for me buddy, that dog is sick in the head, he's not friendly like Ms Magee's basset hound down the road. Just stay right where you are and I'll help ya. Daisy I need you to go get Uncle Jessie for me."

Bo looked over at Luke with big blue eyes pleading for help. His big cousin could fix anything. He has helped Bo put the wheels back on his toy car when it broke, he held him till he felt better when he was sick with a cold last winter, and he scared the monsters away from under his bed every night before they went to sleep in the room they shared.

Luke scanned the ground for anything to use on the dog which had fixed his sights on Bo and was continuing to advance on him. All he could find was a stick; it would have to do though.

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"Uncle Jessie" Daisy called into the house

"What is it Princess?"

"Luke told me to come get ya, I don't know why."

Jessie shielded his eyes from the sun and squinted out into the field where the boys were playing. The scene he saw made his blood run cold and he quickly grabbed his shotgun from the house.

"Daisy Mae stay here in the house with yer Aunt and be sure to shut the door."

"Ok Uncle Jessie" she yelled as she watched him take off across the field towards her cousins.

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Luke Duke tightly gripped the stick in his sweaty palms as he inched closer to his cousin and the hound dog. He could see Bo's shoulders starting to shake and he knew it was only a matter of seconds before he started to bawl his eyes out.

"Keep being a brave boy Bo, you know I'll never let anything happen to ya little cousin."

Bo flashed him a weak smile, far from his normal one that stretched ear to ear. Just then the dog lunged at the little boy and Luke swung the stick at the dog with all the strength a 7 year old could muster. He connected with the dogs head with a solid crack but it did little more than briefly daze him. The hound turned his attention off Bo onto Luke though and this was a relief to the oldest cousin, even as the dog jumped on him pinning him to the ground and sinking his teeth deep into the boys arm. Luke could hear Bo screaming but he was too busy putting all his energy into trying to hold off the rabid dog to comfort him. All of a sudden there was a load bang and everything seemed to go quiet for a second. Luke just lay there in a daze trying to figure out what the heck happened when he saw his Uncle Jesse standing over him and felt the throbbing pain in his arm and the weight of the now dead dog lying on top of him.

"Uncle Jessie" Luke cried as his Uncle gently scooped his up in his big arms.

"You're such a good cousin Luke; you did a real nice job of protecting Bo and Daisy. I'm afraid we're going to have to get you fixed up at the hospital. I know you don't like it there, but it's gotta be done."

"I understand Uncle Jessie" Luke said wrapping his good arm around his Uncles neck.

Uncle Jessie picked up the still hysterical Bo with his other arm and carried his boys back to the farmhouse, glad that they survived their terrifying ordeal mostly unscathed.

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After some shots and a number of stitches in his arm Luke and the rest of the Duke family were finally all back at home, including one new addition. Jessie had taken the boys into town after the hospital trip to get them both some ice cream to cheer them up when Bo had spotted some puppies for sale in a box outside the post office. Uncle Jessie had a hard time turning Bo down when he started begging on a good day. After this terrible day it was virtually impossible when he saw his two young boys playing with the little brown mix breed puppies. So he had forked over the $5. Part of him was mad at himself for giving in when he had previously said no, but also relieved that neither Bo nor Luke showed any fear to dogs after what they just went through. Lavinia had shot him a look that said "I just knew you'd cave" when she saw the boys and their Uncle come through the door, but she could never stay too mad when she knew it brought her family so much joy.

Bo and Luke were quickly sent off to bed after their long exhausting day. They had just tucked themselves in when Luke heard soft crying from the other side of the room.

"What's wrong Bo?"

"It's my fault you got hurt, now you won't be able to play baseball for a while. I'm so sorry Luke."

"It's not your fault Bo, I'm just glad you're ok, that's the only thing I care about. I'd do anything to protect you."

Luke tip toed over to Bo's bed and wiggled under the covers. He wrapped Bo in a tight hug and the two of them started to drift off to sleep.

"Thanks Luke, I luv ya cousin."

"I love ya too Bo."

Their Uncle and Aunt watched the two boys squished into one bed with the puppy curled at their feet from the doorway. When they heard their breathing change signifying they had both drifted off into the land of nod they shut the door thinking of how lucky they were to have such great children in their lives.


End file.
